Herrenchiemsee is a castle of royal buildings on the Herreninsel, an island in the middle of the Bavaria’s largest lake – Chiemsee. The Neues Schloss (New Castle) is the most famous of these buildings and it is the biggest of Ludwig II of Bavaria’s palaces. The Neues Schloss was designed by Christian Jank, Franz Seitz, and Georg Dollman and built between 1878 and 1885. This is the final castle of Ludwig II and the biggest, and most expensive of all 16.6 million.

It was to have been an equivalent to the Palace of Versailles, but only the central portion was built before the king died. There are 70 rooms, of which 50 were never completed. Ludwig lived here for a total of just 10 days in September 1885. The most famous part of the palace is the Hall of Mirrors. It is 98 meters long and has 44 candelabras and 33 chandeliers. Gilt work is everywhere in the palace. The great hall of mirrors is longer than its equivalent in Versailles, and the dining room has a huge chandelier of Meissen porcelain, the largest in the world. King Ludwig’s “copy” has more modern facilities, with a toilet and a large heated bathtub. Also, unlike Versailles, it was built on an island and is now only accessible by a small ferry.

The formal gardens are filled with fountains and statues in both the classical style typical of Versailles and in the fantastic style typical of romanticism that was favored by King Ludwig.